Jacksons Food Stores has added more than 60 stores in Oregon and southern Washington.
The Meridian company entered into a joint venture with Shell Oil Products to take over 62 Shell stores located primarily in the Vancouver, Wash., and Portland area.
John Jackson, CEO and founder of Jacksons, said the agreement was a good "strategic fit" for the company.
"This is a big expansion for us," Jackson told the Idaho Statesman.
The addition will add about 750 employees, bringing Jackson's total work force to nearly 1,800. The new stores will also bring Jackson's total store count to more than 160. In addition to the stores it operates, Jacksons also supplies fuel to 300 other convenience stores.
Jackson said his company already owns stores south of Portland between Salem and Eugene. Shell approached Jacksons about the joint venture. Jackson said he had been interested in expanding into the Portland market, but thought it would be too difficult.
"It's hard to build a network like that by doing it one at a time," he said. "Because of the permitting process it would have taken the rest of my life."
Jackson said the deal will give the company some nice sites in the Portland area. He said the company may remodel and rebuild some stores and expand further in the region.
The deal closed on March 4, and Jackson said the company finished rebranding the stores this week.
Terms of the joint venture call for Jacksons and Shell to share equally in the profits from each store, Jackson said. Shell is also paying Jacksons a fee to operate the stores.
Shell previously announced plans to change its retail assets to joint ventures to free the company to focus on being a fuel retailer.
"With a strong, well-known retail brand and a reputation for excellent customer service, Jacksons Food Stores will help to strengthen the Shell retail network in the Pacific Northwest," Bill Spurgeon, west region general manager of Shell Oil Products, said in a statement. "Transitioning these sites will allow us to focus on delivering the quality fuels motorists expect from Shell."
Jacksons Food Stores was founded in Caldwell in 1975 as a single service station. It is now Idaho's sixth-largest privately held corporation.
Ken Dey: 672-6757
